Episode 24
Cute faces must be hiding something (カワイイ顔には必ず何かが隠れてる, kawaii gao ni wa kanarazu nani ka ga kakure teru) is the twenty-fourth episode of the Gintama anime. Introduction Gintoki gets roped into working at an okama, where he and Katsura work to try and help the owner's son come to grips with both sides of his father. Plot Otose is seen fighting with a weird man dressed as a woman (referred as okama in Japanese). As they make a lot of noise, they wake up Gin, who insults the okama after the latter made a comment about true human beings never sleeping that late. So the okama knocks out Gin and takes him along. Shinpachi explains to Kagura that the okama is the Demoness Mademoiselle Saigou Tokumori, one of Kabukicho's Four Royals, along with Otose. Saigou dresses Gin as an okama, names him Pako and forces him to work in the shop he owns along with other okamas. Gin sees Katsura there as well dressed as an okama and he has been named Zurako. We are shown a flashback about how Katsura ended in that place. He was in a restaurant with Elizabeth waiting for some instant noodles, but the owner served Saigou first even if Katsura has ordered for food first. Katsura gets angry and calls Saigou a freak, which leads Saigou to knock him out and takes him along. Back in the Okama Shop Gin and Katsura try to work in this weird place and get insulted by a customer just before Saigou appears and beats him up. They go shopping with another okama named Ayumi, who explains to them that Saigou was once a legendary fighter. As they return to the shop, they come across some kids bullying a small boy, who turns out to be Teruhiko, Saigou's son, because of his father. They scare the kids away and take Teruhiko back to the shop. Saigou is shocked about his son's appearance and asks why he returns home every day being bruised. Teruhiko just laughs it off and says that he was just playing before he ran away. Katsura heads to have a conversation with him and finds out that he wishes for his father to be a normal dad. Back at the shop Saigou drinks to forget his troubles while explaining how Teruhiko's mother died early and he raised him on his own. Teruhiko goes out to face the kids bullying him, as Gin tries to escape. However, Katsura stops him because he wants to help Teruhiko with his father. They soon see the two kids that bullied Teruhiko running around panicked, so they catch up to them and make them explain what is going on. They were having a test of courage about entering an abandoned house, from which a loud growl frol a wild beast was heard. Katsura enters through the little hole, but Gin is stuck there. While trying to help him out, they feel something watching them, so Katsura goes to look at it, but Gin grabs his leg and insists on helping him out of the hole. At that moment Prince Hata appears with his consultant, Jii, and they help him get out of the hole. They find that Prince Hata has bought this samurai mansion for his pet, Pochi, to use it as a playground. At that moment a huge dog's face appears through the bushes and Prince Hata explains that this is Pochi. As Katsura heads to pet him, they find that the face is a fake part belonging to a real monster. Prince Hata assures them that it is harmless and only eats salami but it soon grabs them all and buries them inside the ground only having their heads above the surface, so it can eat them later. After a while, Teruhiko appears and tries to dig them out, but Pochi returns and tries to attack him. Just before he is eaten, Katsura and Gin manage to pull out one of their arms and stop the beast. At that moment Saigou appears and punches Pochi through the mansion with his inhuman strength. He goes in and bests Pochi making Katsura remember who he really is. Saigou was a legendary fighter during the Amanto War, fighting his enemies wearing only a loincloth. Saigou takes his son home and releases Gin with Katsura from the job of okama. The episode ends with Teruhiko reading an essay he wrote about his family, finally accepting who his father really is. Characters *Sakata Gintoki *Shimura Shinpachi (cameo) *Kagura (cameo) *Sadaharu (mentioned) *Saigou Tokumori (debut) *Saigou Teruhiko (debut) *Prince Hata *Jii Trivia Back to Episode List Go back to Main Page ---- References Category:Episodes